U.S., Coalition Continue Strikes to Defeat ISIS in Syria, Iraq

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Oct. 13, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 29 strikes consisting of 29 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Operation Inherent resolve

Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 27 strikes consisting of 27 engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Abu Kamal, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.

-- Near Raqqa, 25 strikes engaged nine ISIS tactical units, suppressed a fighting position; destroyed two communications nodes, 10 fighting positions, a vehicle and an ISIS supply road.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit.

Strikes in Iraq

In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted two strikes consisting of two engagements against ISIS targets:

-- Near Qaim, a strike destroyed a vehicle-borne-bomb factory.

-- Near Haditha, a strike engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed a vehicle and a heavy machine gun.

Oct. 10-11 Strikes

Additionally, 12 strikes consisting of 13 engagements were conducted in Syria and Iraq on Oct. 10-11 for which the information was not previously available:

-- On Oct. 11 near Raqqa, eight strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed four ISIS communication lines, two communications nodes and a fighting position.

-- On Oct. 11 near Rawa, Iraq, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit and an ISIS-held building.

-- On Oct. 10 near Rawa, two strikes destroyed four ISIS supply routes, a command-and-control node and an ISIS-held building.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said.

The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted.

Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect.

For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.

The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.